Thirteen Movies That Best Addressed The Human Nature

They say watching a movie means experiencing a parallel universe, by living someone else’s life. But I guess there is a reason beyond that for why we love movies and series. It is because they often shed the light and make us reflect on our own human nature. Here is a list of Hollywood movies that did a great job addressing us:

ON PERSEVERANCE & NOT GIVING UP:

1- Frida Kahlo (2002)

A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her art work.

“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” – Frida (2002)

2- The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Hitting rock-bottom all while having to take care of his son under his custody, a salesman refuses to give up on his professional success, and a dream to live a happy, self-achieved life.

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you You can’t do something. If you want something, go get it. Period.” – The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

ON GREED & SURVIVAL:

3- Interstellar (2014)

A team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space in an attempt to ensure humanity’s survival. The movie perfectly explores both our species’ greed and her high sense of survival. A mixed blend of egoism and altruism. a truly brilliant movie and another masterpiece from Christopher Nolan.

“Mankind was born on Earth. It was never meant to die here.” Interstellar (2014)

4- Blood Diamond (2006)

Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1996–2001, the film depicts the selfish capitalistic war over conflict diamonds, mined in war zones and profiting warlords and diamond companies across the world. It also explores the atrocities of this war, including the amputation of people’s hands to discourage them from voting in upcoming elections.

Our strive for comfort, automation, and optimization of resources is driving us towards more than ever complex Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Will we reach a point where we humanize machines by uploading human conscience to them? The movie explores the implications of our big AI ambitions.

“So you want to create a god? Your own god? – That’s a very good question. Isn’t that what man has always done?” – Transcendence (2014)

6- Wallstreet (1987)

A young ambitious stockbroker is eager to get to the top, at all price, including trading illegal inside information, taken from a greedy corporate man who makes use of such ambitious proteges. A great message to wall-street eager traders, years before The Wolf of Wall Street.

“The most valuable commodity I know of is information.” – Wall Street (1987)

ON DICTATORSHIP:

7-The Godfather(the trilogy)

Adapted from Mario Puzo’s novel (the Godfather) by director Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather movie is a tale of greed, survival, and arrogance and one of the greatest movies ever, in terms of box office numbers and critics appeal. It depicts the story of an Italian-American immigrant family (the Corleones) indulging in the Italian Mafia in the US, and addresses the mafia bosses’ wrongly perceived sense of survival.

“I don’t trust society to protect us, I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men whose only qualification is that they managed to con a block of people to vote for them.”

8- Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)

A unique two-part mini series profiling the life of Adolf Hitler as a child, and his rise through the ranks of the National German Workers’ Party prior to World War II. When we usually say Adolf Hitler, enough is said about the human nature, but watching this movie is a great reminder that no demon is born as such, but usually turned as one.

“Adolf Hitler: If a thief takes your money and you take it back, does that make you also a thief?” – Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)

9- House of Saddam (2008)

A co-production between BBC Television and HBO Films, this mini-series explores the inner workings of Saddam Hussein’s family and his relationship with his closest advisers. Saddam anyone?

“Saddam Hussein: I know a traitor before he knows himself.” – House of Saddam- 2008

ON EMPATHY:

10- Schindler’s List (1993)

The film is based on the life of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust in Poland, during World War II, by employing them in his factories.

“Oskar Schindler: Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don’t.” – Schindler’s List (1993)

ON DEEP LOVE & ATTACHMENT:

The next two movies are beyond what words can describe, and personally SO dear to my heart. They will take you to an enchanted side inside your heart called deep love. And then just tear you apart. They will make you want to call her or him, and tell them: beyond right and wrong, there is a field, meet me there; just meet me there.

11- The Age of Innocence (1993)

“I can’t have my happiness made out of a wrong to someone else.”

12- Waking the Dead (2000):

“We will never be apart. We may be at each other’s throats or we may be separated by 5,000 miles, but we’ll never be apart.”

ON OUR MIND, AND ITS COMPLEX BIOLOGY:

13-A Beautiful Mind (2001)

On the late John Nash, Nobel Prize winner mathematician whose work around the modern game theory made fundamental contributions to the world of economics, and his hard battle with schizophrenia. The movie helped us a great amount live in the shoes of a schizophrenic person, and understand the disease beyond the jargon medical terminology.

“John Nash: I have made the most important discovery of my life: it is only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found.” – A Beautiful Mind 2001.

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